Some of our December activities…
Visiting Santa. Daniel still hates him!
Josh’s band concert and Emily’s recital
Gingerbread houses. Warning: there was an overabundance of sugar consumed during the making of these houses!
A visit to Temple Square to see the lights.
We also had a fun party with Grandma and Grandpa Beckstrom, aunts and uncles and cousins too.
Christmas came early when Daniel won a contest! He won a Strider bike for himself and SIX more bikes for our local chapter of our state’s Down syndrome foundation!
He’s not a huge fan right now, unless someone else is touching it. Then he’s more than anxious to go for a drive around the house! For now we’re keeping it inside, but come warmer weather we’ll be moving to the great outdoors.
In case you’re wondering about the contest: I saw a link for it online and just couldn’t resist. I had to submit a picture of Daniel and tell a little bit about his story. I don’t even remember what I wrote! Here’s the photo I submitted. How could anyone possibly resist that?!?!
We invented our own version of cleaning the sink. (Daniel is enjoying his own little bowl of ice cream next to where I’m standing.)
We took goofy selfies.
The weather was so nice for so long that we were able to get the front door painted the weekend before Thanksgiving! Obviously we still have some work to do with the frame and the sidelights…but I’m still not sure how I feel about the door.
Rachel participated in the Veterans’ Day program that the 2nd grade puts on every year. Made me all teary-eyed!!
And I worked on some projects. This one is the finished drapes for the sliding glass door.
Thanksgiving mantel.
Fall centerpiece. Jared cut the wood and assembled the box. I sanded, stained and did all the foliage.
We also hosted Thanksgiving for my side of the family. We had lots of fun, ate lots of good food and yummy pies, and enjoyed the day. We only had 12 people total so it was actually kind of quiet. I was not very good at taking pictures. But we did get these few phone pics.
Caleb drinking his M&M water and an “M” that floated to the top of the water.
Daniel really enjoyed the pie.
And the day after Thanksgiving (thankfully), Daniel started the puke fest. It made its way through him, Caleb and then Rachel. So glad it didn’t hit any sooner!
The last project for the month was putting up the Christmas tree, which I did in between rounds of puke with Daniel.
I’m trying desperately to get caught up!!
We had a great Halloween week, with lots of preparations and lots of partying. Over the course of 4 days I made a tutu, a skirt, leggings and a hooded robe. I also crocheted a hat, dyed a shirt and overalls, reconstructed and embellished a shirt for Emily, created an Olaf face shirt for Rachel, and made a ninja turtle shirt for Caleb. And I don’t even like Halloween!!!! Maybe that means I’m a nice mom after all!
We partied with Grandma and Grandpa Beckstrom and lots of cousins and aunts and uncles. We partied with our ward and even got to take part in the shooting of a candy cannon. And of course we trick-or-treated until we just couldn’t take it any more!
Here are Olaf and Anna.
Next up are Leonardo and the Grim Reaper.
And last, but certainly not least, the most adorable minion you’ll ever meet!
Hope your Halloween was as delightful/frightful as was ours! Time to start planning the next round of costumes…
Emily had a birthday, shout HOORAY!! She loves a comfy seat and German chocolate cake…a girl after my own heart!!
What can I say about this girl? She’s beautiful, smart, awesome, persistent, talented and lots of fun.
Here are a few things you may or may not know about her:
She loves beef jerky, especially the peppered kind.
She is a super speed reader. She got Michael Vey 4 and the Blood of Olympus books for her birthday and she had them both finished within a couple of weeks.
She is becoming an awesome piano player. She plays most weeks for opening exercises in Young Women.
She loves being outside, away from all the boring stuff of life.
She recently started Winter guard (color guard) at the high school. She is a natural! She participated in Christmas Fantasy and did a great job!
She is an animal lover through and through.
She’s pretty good with a set of tools. She got rusty bolts off her bike tires, replaced the tubes, and got everything in working condition all by herself.
She wants to be an architect.
She is really good at math and science.
She is a great helper with younger siblings.
She is very creative and artistic.
In early October we learned that Daniel would not be able to continue attending his preschool at Sound Beginnings. It is a long and emotional story, and involves decisions and processes that are likely not legal…but we decided not to fight the system and conserve our emotional and physical energy for our family.
So Daniel moved to the preschool at our elementary, right in our backyard. It is nice to have him close (but sure wish he could get more hours of service) and Rachel and Caleb love being at school with him!
The change happened so quickly that he wasn’t able to ride the bus for the first couple of days. WHAT?!?!? He rides the bus?? Yep, all 200 yards to the front door of the preschool! We were told it’s a good experience for him to ride the bus, and it helps him practice some of his language and social skills. Whatever. All I can say is he looooooves it!! The first day was a little scary for him, because of the noise and unfamiliarity. Since then, it has become the highlight of his day.
Is it coming yet??
Here it comes!!
Bus #61.
Daniel has been thriving (but sometimes being a wee bit naughty) in his new school. He has a great teacher with lots of awesome aides and therapists. I was lucky enough to get to go on a fieldtrip to the pumpkin walk with his class. It was so fun to sit next to him on the bus and see just how excited he is to be a big kid. We passed Jared’s work and he knew right where we were…
The pumpkin walk was fun, but a little overwhelming for his little legs and attention span! He was NOT a fan of the character cut outs!
We are happy with the progress this kiddo is making. He is using more words (over 60 words/approximations!!) and even signing more. He is generally a happy and thriving kid who learns pretty quickly and captures hearts wherever he goes.
We took a little trip to Thanksgiving Point, Fillmore, Cove Fort and Provo for our UEA break. Who knew being so close to home for vacation could be so much fun??
We stayed at a hotel next to Thanksgiving Point. It was a great location and it had a swimming pool. ‘Nuff said!! I managed to forget Daniel’s swimming suit, but we were close enough to Walmart that we were able to get him some shorts and swimming diapers. Whew! Thank goodness for modern conveniences!
We explored a volcano in Kanosh and had fun looking through the hole in the rock.
We drove through Fillmore and stopped at the cemetery to see the gravesites for Grandparents and other ancestors.
Of course we stopped at the Finlinson wall. And we even located some bacon!
We went to Cove Fort and explored the wonders of a real Pioneer settlement.
On our way to Provo, we passed the Payson and Provo Town Center temples (both under construction).
We went to BYU and ate at the CougarEat, explored the Bean Museum, and had ice cream at the Creamery.
Whew! That was all in one day!
Then we spent a day at Thanksgiving Point’s Museum of Natural Curiosity and petting zoo. I happen to know some people who were in heaven!
We ended our vacation with a stop at the cemetery to see Grandma F.’s gravesite, as well as other ancestors.
We had so much fun!! We are thinking that a UEA vacation needs to become an annual tradition. Wonder where we’ll go in 2015?!?!
